This is a little last minute, but if you want to be heard about the future of housing on campus, as well as the future of the heart of campus (the University Boulevard area, as well as McInnis Field and the current bus loop), there are two open houses forthcoming. All you need to do is show up:

1. Public Open House • UBC Student Housing Demand Study

Date: Friday, February 5th
Time: 2:30 pm – 3:30pm
Local: SUB 211

A follow-up to this study ^[1], which among other things, states that 43% of students living off campus would live on campus if they had the choice. Learn about the study and provide your input regarding the study and next-steps.

^[2]

2. Public Open House • University Boulevard Neighbourhood

Date: Monday, February 8th
Time: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Local: SUB Concourse

Long ago, there was a design competition to redo the University Boulevard Neighbourhood (solid line). It’s been about six years since that design competition finished. Since then, the winning architects have disappeared, their replacement also disappeared, an underground bus loop has disappeared, and in the chaos, a 120 million dollar Student Union Building, and an Olympic-sized pit of mud have appeared.

Despite most of the original plan’s premises disappearing, the model of the neighbourhood remains the same. This open house seems to be a welcome acknowledgment of “ok, crap, what now”. Further, the ‘study area’ includes much much more than the University Boulevard Neighbourhood–going all the way to the current bus loop (where future plans are still undecided). It’ll be very interesting to see what’s on display.